Safety device for railroad-switches



(No Model.)

A. R. ROBERTS.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR RAILROAD SWITCHES. P10. 318,297. Patented May 19,1885.

U5 fl N. PETERS, Phomulha n har, Washingion. 04 c.

v UN TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED R. ROBERTS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR RAILROAD-SWITCHES.

SPECIFICATION forming part 'of Letters Patent No. 318,297, dated 19,1885.

Application filed Nm'emberlfl, 1894.

To (bZZ whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, ALFRED It. ROBERTS,21- citizen of the United States,and a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certainImprovements in Safety Devices for Railroad-Switches, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to switches and operating mechanism combined withelastic con nections which permit the switch to yield to the wheels of alocomotive or car under the circumstances explained hereinafter; and myinvention consists of the combination of" a switch-lever for operatingthe same and the yielding connection of one to the other with a safetydevice rigidly connected to the switch, and constructed for restrictingthe movement of the said lever when the switch is obstructed,substantially as described hereinafter, this restriction of the levernotifying the switchman that there is an obstruction. to be re moved.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan view of a switch andoperating mechanism with my improvement; Fig. 2, a sec tion 011 the line1 2, lookingin the direction of the arrow; Fig. 8, a perspective viewillustrating part of my improvement; Fig. 4, a view, partly in sectionand drawn to an enlarged scale,of the yielding connection which Ipropose to use; and Figs. 5 and 6, a modification of my invention.

A and A are the permanent rails of the main track, B and B the rails ofthe siding or turn-out, and D D the switch-rails, which are connectedtogether by crossbar-s in the usual manner.

A shaft, H, is adapted to suitable hearings on a plate near the track,and one end of a rod, J, is connected with the pin t of a crank, I,forming part of the shaft, the opposite end of the rod having an elasticconnection with theswitch-rails. This connection may be made indifferent ways, that which is shown in Fig. 4,and which will be readilyunderstood, being in common use. This connection permits theswitch-rails to yield to the wheels of a locomotive or car withoutbending the rod J or in juring other parts of the operating mechanismforinstance, if, when the switch is adjusted to the position shown in Fig.1, a train should be traveling on the main track in the (No model.)

free from the influence of the wheels, owingto the elasticity of theabove-mentioned connection.

Thereis this difficulty attending the use of a connection of this kind.A small stone or other obstruction may prevent the movement of theswitch to its full extent and to its true position, and this might notbe observed by the operator. There might, for instance, bca small stoneat the point m between the rail A and the switch-rail D, and yet, owingto the elastic connection, the operator could depress the switch-lever Nto its full extent without being aware of the obstruction, and in spiteof the latter the lever would remain in its depressed position whenreleased, for the crank I and the lever N are always so arranged as tolock the switch in either of its two final positions. I obviate thisdifficulty by the device which I will proceed to describe. A bar, M,situated below the switch-leverN,is adapted to guides in m on the ties,and on this bar, which is connect-ed to the switch, are two projections,a n, which are such as not to interfere with the depression of theswitch-lever to its full extent in moving the switch in eitherdirection, providing there is no obstruction to prevent the switch fromreaching its proper position; but if there should be any obstruction toprevent this complete movement of the switch one or other of theprojections a it, according to the direction in which the switch ismoved, will prevent the full depression of the lever, and this willnotify the operator that there is an obstruction to be removed.Supposing, for instance, that there is an ob struction at .17 when theoperator is moving the switch in the direction of the arrow 2,theprojection a of the bar M,which is under the control of the switch,will prevent the full depression of the lever. The obstruction to themovement of the switch-lever however, is not such as to lock the saidlever; hence it can at once be reversed so as to open the switch andpermit the removal of the obstruction by the switchman. V

Incarrying out my invention it is not essential to adhere to thisprecise construction of safety device. The bar M and its projectionsmay, f0r'instanee,.be in the form of a lever, M, Figs. 5 and 6, which ispivoted at w, and one arm of which is connected by a rod, 25, to theswitch,the other arms being provided with such projections that whenthere is a failure to move the switch homein one directi'on,owing to anobstruction, the projection of one arm will prevent the full depressionof thelever, 7

operating the same, and a yielding'connection of one to the other, witha safety device rigidly connected to the switch, but free fromconnection with the switch-operating device and con structed forrestricting the movement of the switch-lever without looking the samewhen the switch isobstructed, all substantially as specified.

2. The combination of the switch, the operating-lever, and the yieldingconnection of one to the other with a safety device comprising a guidedbar, M, rigidlyconnected to the switch and having stops at n, forrestricting the movement of the lever when the switch is obstructed,substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALFRED R. ROBERTS.

Witnesses:

JOHN M. CLAYTON, HARRY SMITH.

